Swimming pools commonly require a significant amount of maintenance. Beyond the treatment and filtration of pool water, the bottom wall (the “floor”) and side walls of a pool (the floor and the side walls collectively, the “walls” of the pool) are scrubbed regularly. Additionally, leaves and other debris often times elude a pool filtration system and settle on the bottom of the pool, get stuck at the pool waterline, or float on the pool water surface.
Automated pool cleaning devices, e.g., swimming pool cleaners, have been developed to routinely navigate about the pool walls, cleaning as they go. A rotating cylindrical roller (formed of foam and/or provided with a brush) can be included on the bottom of the pool cleaner to scrub the pool walls, while a pump system continuously circulates water through a filter assembly of the pool cleaner capturing debris and any suspended particulate therein. The pool cleaner lengthens the life of the main pool filter (e.g., a sand, diatomaceous earth (D.E.), or cartridge filter) in fluid communication with the fluid circulation line of the swimming pool, and reduces the time between changes or backwash cycles of the main filter.
The pool cleaner's filter assembly often includes traditional filter elements, such as bags, mesh, baskets, etc., that are utilized to trap any debris and particulate removed from a pool surface by the cleaner. These traditional filter elements generally have limited surface area that can quickly become clogged or occluded by the debris and particulate that they are utilized to contain. As the filter elements become clogged the cleaner can start to operate improperly, for example, the cleaner may lose suction performance. Once the filter elements have become sufficiently clogged, or have been occluded to a point that cleaner performance has been reduced below a desired level, the filter elements have to be cleaned or replaced. This can often occur prior to the debris retention area of a pool cleaner being completely full. That is, the surface of the bag, mesh, or basket can become clogged prior to the debris retention volume thereof being filled to capacity. Further, to rinse or replace the filter elements, or empty the basket, a user will often have to directly handle the filter element and subsequently debris, and in the case of a basket, will have to open a lid of the cleaner to retrieve the basket from within the unit and spray the basket with water which may result in debris and water getting on them.
During cleaning, the pool cleaner will traverse the pool surfaces brushing or scrubbing the debris therefrom, often encountering obstacles, such as lights, drains, etc., along the way. These obstacles can cause the cleaner to get stuck for the duration of a cleaning period, resulting in the pool being only partially cleaned.
What is needed in the art is an automatic swimming pool cleaner that debris is easily cleaned from, enhances filtering operation, and/or traversal through the pool. These and other needs are addressed by the swimming pool cleaner of the present disclosure.